Between the hypnotic grooves of the splatter
vinyl, the smell of the covers, the music
which is often unusual, let's try to orient
ourself in the fantastic world of QBICO by
interviewing Mr. QBICO himself !

All About Jazz: ok, let's start from the
beginning: when and why did you decided to
start a record label ?

Qbico: Since 1996 I've had a site in which
I used to "trade" rare free jazz
and improvised vinyl... then, little by little
more people came on the web always presenting
more competition since the boom of eBay which
definitively ruined the used market. At that
point I told myself: I'd try something new
!Already having a good number of music fans,
I immediatly thought of a small indipendent
label on vinyl only, but i didn't know anything
about the production, how you release a record,
the cover or the label, how you do it, who
to produce, how many copies you print, I
didn't even know a single distributor. But
I already had a few contacts with some musicians,
having organized various concerts in the
past (the most memorable I think it was "Fringes"
@ the Tunnel, which i did together with LaMoja
).

The real turning point was in November of
2000 when me and my girlfriend at the time
went to London for a few days to see some
concerts which seemed interesting. One of
these was Acid Mothers Temple. As soon as
I arrived I immediatly noticed Makoto and
a strange round box with 10 CD-Rs entitled
"Early Works 1978-81". There were made in 100 numbered copies
with cover. They intrigued me although the
only bad thing I noticed was that they weren't
so cheap. So I asked Makoto if he could give
me a discount and we agreed. At the beginning
of January, 2001 I listened to the first
and second CD-R from the box, a pure joy
and an enlightment ! i'd start from here
if i wanna do a unique label, unimitable,
with rockets (as Arthur Doyle called them)
completly different from others: colored
and psychedelic ! I immediatly wrote to Makoto
and i proposed him to "re-issue"
the Dark Revolution Collective CD-R on a
picture disk with a mandala on one side and
a Huichol yarn painting on the other. He
said ok and that's how QBICO was born. I'll
always be greatful to my dear friend Makoto!
I think that one of the greatest fortunes
of QBICO is dealing with really relaxed and
easy musicians. Sincerely speaking, we are
a big family!

AAJ: Why did you choose vinyl?

Qbico: I love it to death as an object and
all the ritual behind it ! I have bought
vinyl since I was 12 years with a certain
"heat"... and I was lucky enough
to frequent since I was a young boy, the
coolest record shop in the world, The Bazaar
! I spent whole afternoons there, while the
bazaar's selector was in the console spinning
the latest releases of black and dance music
for the best DJ of the time! We could easily
say that wax has been in my blood since childhood,
simply a magic attraction... At this point
I'd like to mention a couple of people essential
for my musical evolution: Steve, who worked
at the Bazaar and who turned me on to black
music in general, and Robert I, the "spiritual
father" of QBICO, who one lovely day
let me hear "Machine Gun" by Peter Brotzmann and "Alabama feeling" by Arthur Doyle. also my friend Andrew
gave me some fine clues about more experimental
music... and given that we have landed in
the "thanks zone" I'd like to also
mention my lady (now ex), the "artistic director" of QBICO
and authoress of the best hand-made covers
for QBICO limited edition and Giuseppi of
Fringes who always help me (even if he copied
the name of his label from a radio program
of the same name i did for a couple of years
on Radio Collision Waves).

AAJ: What about the artwork, the colored
vinyl?

Qbico: If the musicians propose some ideas
for the cover, that's fine, otherwise I come
up with some concepts. For example it was
my idea to suggest to Sabu to do a typical
jap. vertical design with a fold-out cover
for the latest QBICO released (22/23). Of
the 21 records which have been published
on QBICO since its beginning, 11 had been
done by the musicians, while I did the remaining
10, so I'd say it's a good balance. Of course
musicians have complete freedom regarding
cover artwork, labels and which vinyl color/s
they'd prefer. After four years of experience
in the record business, I think that one
of the key secrets of making a good record
is the possibility to have a good relationship
and dialogue with the musicians (new ideas
are always born) and in particular choosing
the right sequence of the pieces is fundamental
to me. It has happened to suggest to some
musicians to change the sequence of the pieces
and after hearing the recording with the
new sequence they agreed that I was right.
Regarding colored vinyls, as I said before,
the point is to give QBICO a different and
unique aestethic compared to other labels.
Of course I certainly didn't invent or discover
colored vinyl, but before they had seldom
been applied to these types of music.

I also really like the fact that QBICO records,
the ones with the splatter effects, are all
different one from another, unique bits,
hand-made, made one by one... In complete
antagonism against the actual "dematerialization"
trend! These are records which attract you
not only from the sound but also by the visuals!
It'd be an experience alone to see them revolving
on the turntable. Some QBICO records really
look hypnotic to me! At the beginning of
the production I also loved to try different
color solutions for the vinyl, to see if
they amalgamate well... I feel a bit like
a small "alchemist." It might sound
surreal to some but there have been some
colors when mixed together that gave me troubles,
that is, they didn't sound right with background
noise: see for example the Coffee LP (QBICO
17)

Yellow with mixed red doesn't work, for the
most part I had to do them on yellow vinyl,
piss color (the title of the record is "Pissing contest") and as an act of magic, the background
noises disappeared ! but the musicians asked
me to do a record with some piss and some
blood... I tried, but it seems that if you
find traces of blood in your urine is not
a good sign and as well in the vinyl too!
In the end, every record has its own story
to tell and when it's finished it's like
a new baby is born... you saw it in it's
infancy (CD-R) and then go away from home
when it's sold out, in short from tadpole
to frog !

AAJ: Tell everything about the philosophy
behind QBICO.

Qbico: unique musical projects, which differentiate
from the rest (from what it's easy you can
guess), always trying to keep a high musical
level for every releases (not an easy task
!). Rockets which don't pass unnoticed, which
anticipate trends. Let me make a couple of
examples to better explain: two months after
I did the Sunburned hand of the man LP, they
had been the cover feature of the specialized
English mag The Wire (to me the best musical
mag in the world right now), as standard-bearer
of the new American free folk genre. In the
Dec. issue of the same mag, an article came
out on the new exciting Finnish underground
scene and QBICO had already noticed that
new movement at the beginning of the year
when invited the Tolvi brothers (duo with
the name of Lauhkeat Lampaat) to play at
the QBICO U-nite in Bruxelles !

These are records which look ahead/further
and at the same time to the present, they
should be current now and hopefully in 20
years! I find of key importance for QBICO
the idea of a very versatile label: trying
not to fossilize on a sole musical genre
! Of course this could be a double-edged
sword: this eclecticism could disorient some
distributors (it actually did), but at the
same time opening views to various kind of
music. It could and it must help you to enrich
your list of custumers. I'd love to do sound
poetry albums, funk records or better free
funk ones (one of my myth is George Clinton,
but unfortunatly he is difficult to reach),
also strange ethnic things, a percussion
record similar to the Art Blakey things for
the Blue Note label (like "African Beat", if only !), ect... I'd like to mention
a few record labels of the past which have
been a source of inspiration for QBICO: ESP
(mythical, revolutionary, they even wanted
to adopt an universal language), Futura (their
things for the Son series are just incredible),
FMP (beautiful catalog, also more experimental
or ethnic things, I think more complete then
Incus), Blue Note (high musical level and
extreme care of the product), and Saturn
(visionary, indipendent and hand-made)!

AAJ: QBICO records are done in small ltd.
editions but looking at the list on th web
a lot are actually sold out. Who is your
typical consumer?

Qbico: Probably white and probably male but
hopefully multiethnic and female too; with
a turntable, an amplifier and a couple of
speakers ! We have some loyal customers especially
for limited editions. There are total collectors
next to people only interested in specific
artists. For example, there are those who
only buy things from Makoto or Conrad Schnitzler
or those who only buy free jazz stuff. There
are those who try to have the complete QBICO
catalog (a thing that makes me real happy
as they completly understand QBICO's philosophy).

AAJ: Browsing your catalog we find the name
of Arthur Doyle who is really a little known
musician. Tell us about your passion for
his music and how you ended up working with
him.

Qbico: Arthur is the essence of QBICO, its
most brillinat diamond, pure poetry! He is
a unique and unimitable artist, you love
him totally or you totally dislike him, no
half measure, becouse he never compromises,
he choose to live a life on the margin, difficult,
unstable, but he always carries on with extreme
dignity. He had never been invited to big
festival, never slept in a five star hotel,
surrounded by journalists... Unfortunatly
he was also accused of raping two young girls
who later withdrew the charges, but not before
Arthur spent five years in jail in a French
penitentiary! Fortunatly, lots of people
really adore him and for many he is a living
legend, thanks to the record "Alabama
Feeling" from the 70's, by many considered
a cult free jazz record. The first time I
met him was in 2000, when I invited him to
open the Fringes Festival in duo with Sunny
Murray. I remember when I called Sunny to
ask him if he was interested in a gig over
here and he told me he'd loved to play in
duo with a certain Arthur Doyle. He asked
if I knew him! You can bet I know him !

When leaving I gave Arthur a big hug which
I'll never forget, but I'd have never thought
that one day we'd have done some rockets
together. It was Dave Cross (plays with Coffee
and with the Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic
Ensemble) who wrote me, saying these exact
words "our fearless leader asked us
to find a fearless label to issue some of
our music... he'd like a cover with stars
and planets..." but I really don't have
a clue on how he had heard about QBICO!

AAJ: Thre is for example the duo with Hamid
Drake.

Qbico: This record was a gamble on QBICO's
part, letting these two "soul brothers"
meet (and it was not easy at all, because
you can only talk with Arthur when he is
at his mother's house in Birmingham, Alabama
and Hamid is always touring around the world)
and see/hear what happened! After they met
(it was the moment I was looking forward
to, seeing how they would have greeted each
other), they immediately recognized and hugged
eachother and they spoke the same musical
language right on the spot, playing some
"negro spirituals." Until now this
had been the only record actually born here,
but there'd have been a couple more: the
first one'd have been QBICO 02, together
with the great Peter Kowald, something really
far out, becouse Peter was supposed to improvise
on bass over a tape he got of animal sounds
! we were ready, i had already booked the
studio... but unfortunatly he began to feel
sick... damn... for sure the biggest regret
for QBICO until now, he also had already
talked with Kiki Smith for the cover artwork
(we'd have made an artist's cover) ! the
other one should have been with the No Neck
Blues Band: also in this case i had already
booked the studio, they were playing the
night before in the capital and their van
was damaged by some vandals during their
concert in an occupied Cinema, so unfortunatly
the next day they were forced to spend the
day fixing their bus...

AAJ: Another fine jazz musician which we'd
find on QBICO is Daniel Carter, who is now
having some exposure thanks to his collaborations
with Matthew Shipp, William Parker and co,
but he played for years also at underground
stops, even if he is one of the most interesting
and most talented improvisors of the NY scene.

Qbico: it's true, he used to play at underground
stops and i really think that he lived without
a proper place, on the fringes, like Arthur
or Charles Gayle ! especially Andrew Barker
talked to me about Daniel as a philosopher,
a kind of guru and when i met him i understand
why he said so. he is also a really sweet
and very kind fella. he kindly accepted my
invitation to play at the 1st QBICO U-nite
i organized in NYC at Tonic last March 2004
and it was wonderful to see him re-unite
and play with old pals like Arthur Doyle
and Perry Robinson after nearly 30 years
that they hadn't played together, since the
good old loft days in the Big Apple in the
mid 70's ! i'm particulary proud of the event
i did in New York (it was not easy at all
to organize/coordinate and rec. everything),
as for the second U-nite i did in Burxelles
few months later ! these'll be next QBICO
records (beginning of 2005), two double LP
with some unusual gatefold covers... and
what can i say about the music: in NYC, besides
the already mentioned musicians, there was
the Electro-Acoustic Ensemble which played
with Arthur, Andrew Barker/Charles Waters
duo (young and promising musicians, members
of William Parker Little Huey Creative Music
Orchestra) and the legendary poet Steve Dalachinsky
(in real 1960's style). for Bruxelles, these
musicians accepted my invitation: Alan Silva
(solo), the Tolvi brothers (Lauhkeat Lampaat),
Vibracathedral Orchestra and Chris Corsano/Paul
Flaherty. It was a memorable night at Cinema
Nova (an old wonderful disused Cinema from
the 20's) in front of more then 300 people
!

AAJ: The release of the unissued concert
by Evan Parker with Frank Perry also seems
interesting to me.

Qbico: the seed of this record was planted
thanks to the Fringes Festival: in fact i
invited Frank Perry (we are still in the
year 2000) for a concert of tibetan bells
(musictherapy) along projected slides of
a turn of the Century Russian painter who
painted Tibet's sacred mountains, using heavy
colors, without having ever seen them (cromotherapy).
after that i kept in touch with Frank, so,
after QBICO was born, i asked him if he had
any unreleased tapes and with big surprise
and luck he found that unissued duo (which
originally was a trio with Derek Bailey added),
rec. live in 1972 ! i think that this music
in particular, represents something really
unique in Evan Parker's vast discography,
for me here he plays in a different way in
comparison with all his other rec. from that
period, raw and oblique... Frank did the
design for the cover and he also succeed
in finding the original flyer of that gig,
which it has been included as an insert in
the record's cover.

AAJ: how you "hunt" for recordings,
tapes and so on ?

Qbico: i try to stay up to date about new
releases and it happens that the musicians
themselves send me some material by their
own spontaneous initiative. sometimes i concentrate
the new releases on a particular "scene",
like next Spring 2005 i'd like to do three
records with focus on the Scandinavian scene...
these three records'll be by Gush (a trio
by Mats Gustafsson / Sten Sendell / Raymond
Strid) from Sweden with some amazing improvised
electronic music, by the young Finnish fellas
of the Rauhan Orkesteri (two reeds, bass
and drums) for some exciting free folk and
by Ignar Zach/Rhodri Davies (Ignar is from
Norway), an incredible duo of harp and percussion,
alien sounds !

AAJ: many vinyls are dedicated to Makoto
Kawabata's works

Qbico: well, as i said to you before i have
a particular relationship with my dear friend
Makoto ! i should ask him to rec. something
really special for QBICO's fifth year anniversary
(in March 2006) ! mostly, he is known as
the leader of Acid Mothers Temple, but it's
just incredible if you think about his very
first rec. with Dark Revolution Collective,
done when he was only eleven years old and
rec. in his school's chemistry room, using
the various test-tube as percussion instruments
and remixed with the addition of a distorted
synth borrowed from a friend ! or the recordings
with Baroque Bordello, really experimental
and vey different from one another (i should
release two more titles by them) ! in few
words, he is a very creative and eclectic
musician: he told me he got a recording of
a piece of minimalist music (made after he
heard the records of Terry Riley), with him
playing a single piano key for 40 minutes,
just a single note non-stop... din din din
din !!! see also the pic disk for QBICO (11)
of cosmic electro-acoustic music, where he
invented a kind of "remote control sensor",
which according to his body movement interacts
in different ways with the internal parts
of the synth. or the more folk oriented rec.
(he is a true fand of Occitan music) made
in duo with Atsugi as Zoffy or other even
more extreme rec., as the ones he did, using
as the sole sound source, the signals coming
from his guitar effect pedals (from the box
Early Works) !

AAJ: the catalog also includes cult bands
such as Sunburned hand of the Man and Double
Leopards

Qbico: i got in touch with Sunburned after
i heard their CD-R release called Jaybird: 3 minutes into that music were enough for
me to fall in love with that sound, a genre
which i really enjoy, dense with stoned athmospheres...
also live they are particulary wild (as Acid
Mothers), i saw John Moloney handle in a
threatening way a long knife on the stage
of a London theatre ! i released their record
when they were not so big: i think that Jaybird
on QBICO came out just after a month from
their 1st auto-produced LP. for a stoned
evening full of strange vibes, i'd suggest
you not miss their video "over the influence"
(Qbico Video 03). i'm really happy about
Double Leopards pic disk, for me it's something
really hypnotic to hear and see ! another
cornerstone of QBICO is certanly the legendary
Conrad Schnitzler: he rec. with Tangerine
Dream their 1st record "Electronic meditation"
(1969), with Kluster (two historic LP) and
in 1970 he formed the loose collective Eruption
(unfortunatly no rec. is available of that
group... but soon this weighty gap'll be
filled by QBICO !) in few words he is simply
one of the key figure of the krautrock scene
(together with Faust, Can, Klaus Schulze,
ct...) ! i had always been fascinated by
th experimantal music scene from the UK,
which i tried to document on QBICO with records
by A Band (with Richard Youngs and Neil Campbell),
Vitamin B12 and it'll continue to be documented
with Vibracathedral Orchestra (founded by
Neil Campbell after the adventure with the
A Band).... also with the kind help of Sabu and trying
to document another "current" which
i don't-know-why always attract me: Japanese
free jazz !

AAJ: the QBICO project is totally untrendy
compared to the actual directions of the
music market

Qbico: you are absolutly right, it's true
and i'm happy about that ! i think that QBICO
totally reflects QBICO's philosophy, which
is to be against trends, against fashions,
against zombies, aganist the flock !

AAJ: so if a boy wishes to know about Arthur
Doyle's music, he would absolutly need to
buy a turntable and conform to the way of
listening of his older brothers or of his
father, even if he was born when the msot
common way of listiening was already the
CD (not to speak about DVD, MP3, I-pod, ect...)
and in which way would he recognize himself
generationally speaking ?

Qbico: if a boy knows about Arthur Doyle,
he is already on the right way... and it's
not that he'd conform, again, but to go against
trends ! instead of buy a i-pod, he'd buy
a record player without too much exitation:
be sure that wax'll never die ! you'd say
the same of the latest "dematerializing"
ways of listening ? and after all, with around
200 euro you'd get a nice turntable. for
my point of view is not a matter of generation,
but on how you grow (you dig ?)... he thinks
with his own brain or others think for him
? he let current fashion/trends to influence
him ? if yes, unfortunatly he'll never met
Arthur Doyle along his way !

AAJ: when there'll be a new QBICO U-nite
?

Qbico: i'm trying to organize a mini euro-tour
of the Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble
for next Spring... but it won't be an easy
task... i already had in mind three dates
in North Europe... in the future i'd love
to organize a U-nite in Finland and in Japan...
we'll see...

profile:a small label is fighting against market's
rules

Enrique Bettinello

The records from Qbico's catalog, strictly
limited, disappear immediatly in the hands
of record collectors. In a period of progressive
and relentless "dematerialization" of sound supports-
thing that inevitably bring to re-think about
the relationships about music and object-
a small label is totally against tendency:
Qbico. CD it's already obsolete and Mp3 and
I-Pod rules ? Qbico print only vinyls ! Files
share and reject of the support ? Qbico vinyls
double the post and arealways different from each other, colored
with always new "effects" that
while revolving on the turntable create some
hypnotic visual "experience". Fellas
trade mastered CD in an anonimous envelope
? Qbico covers are the fruit of special artworks,
sometimes chosen upon with the artist himself

But what kind of music you'd hear on the
very colorful Qbico records ?

Qbico catalog is really varied and a common
denominator it's dfficult to be found, but
Mr. Qbico personal taste and the choice to
document fringes and hard to pin down musical
scenes. You'd easily find free jazz records
and free folk, Japanese psychadelia, electronic
improvisation and the wierdest sounds.

Let's take a look to some of the most recent
productions and to some goodies among the
titles that you'd still find (many titles
are sold out)

Really interesting is the record of duets
by Steve Beresford with John Butcher on reeds
and Richard Sanderson on electronics (the
vinyl, with on cover a rotorelief by Marcel
Duchamp, is n° 18, titled "I Shall Become
A Bat"). In the 1st duets with John
Butcher we'd hear a marvellous interaction
among the "pneumatic" saxophone
of Butcher and the electronics of Beresford,
curious, omnivorous, made of drips, frictions,
mournful tears, a chirp of quotations, objects...
they plays with the sounds and put them in
a colored centrifuge, from where you'd suddenly
fall in a gummy hole or in a cage of alien
animals. Beresford and Sanderson duo, rec.
live in Saint Michael and All Angels Church,
move along at a slow and warped pace, made
up of buzz and rumours, a kind of spaceship
going adrift in the sound space, which seems
attracted by the hypnotism of the rotorelief...

A musician - extraordinary - very well documented
by Qbico is the unsung hero of American free
jazz: the saxophonist Arthur Doyle. A wonderful duo is the one between him
and drummer Hamid Drake (QBICO 15, "Your
Spirit Is Calling"): the record show
an
incredible empathy among the two musicians,
made of little details which
remind you of the essence of folk music and
spoke of the time when the
spirits where invoked by the sound of a flute
or a drum. The total percussive conception of Drake find Doyle
ready to support the sound gesture with the
voice of his soul: ritual and sincere, with a struggling
tenor sax
sound, a small flute, the same voice, piano...
ancestral echoes... to listen to ! Rec. live with his Electro-Acoustic
Ensemble (QBICO 07, "Conspiracy
nation"), Doyle here offer us a shamanistic
mix of past and future, a kind of Albert Ayler remixed in Sun Ra's spaceship
bulk, with a piercing
percussive force, hallucinatory. Not for
everybody, but to check out ! Totally amazing is the documentation of
a live concert rec. in Japan in 1997
(QBICO 9/10, "Live In Japan, 1997"):
here Doyle is in trio with the mythical
guitarist Takashi Mizutani and free jazz
legendary drummer Sabu Toyozumi,
for a music dense of tense aylerian explosions.
The voice of the tenor sax
sound like the standard-bearer of every unresolved
conflicts of the black
vindications (we'd mention that unfortunatly
he had some troubles with the
law in the past...), finding in the guitar
of Mizutani the perfect match, while the drum of Toyozumi pump highly densed
rhythms and powerful grooves !

Qbico has also in his catalog some of the
key musicians of the underground NYC jazz scene, such as Daniel Carter, Andrew
Barker and Charles Waters:
QBICO 14 "Dialogues In Now!" in
fact saw the drummer and reed player of
William Parker's Little Huey Creative Music
Orchestra in a real free form
dialogue.
Drum, percussion, clarinet, sax, flute, every
kind of sounds emerge from
these two musicians, with a text by poet
Steve Dalachinsky and dedications
to John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Daniel Carter
and to William Parker. Lover of
this kind of music'd not miss this one.

But among the eclectic Qbico catalog we'd
mention also Makoto Kawabata, the
stoned free-folk of Sunburned Hand of Man,
Conrad Schnitzler, an historic
unissued duo concert by Evan Parker and Frank
Perry, Double Leopards, the
latest release of an unreleased duo concert
by some of the mythical figures
of Japanese free jazz such as Toyozumi and
sax player Kaoru Abe, the
ecstatic moods of ""Creek To Creation"
by Matt Valentine... in short there is plenty for every taste !

Of course, the fact of choosing to limit
oneself to such a particular
product and to offer it only to a small number
of connoisseurs and
collectors could be a limit and a merit at
the same time, especially once
that you consider the low exposure/distribution
that these kind of works'd have among new listeners. There is no doubt
that we are coming to an age where the separation
among
young listeners and the object as the vinyl
is in constant escalation: all
began with the coming of the CD which already
diminished -even in a strictly
physical sense- the impact of the object,
inclusive of it's cover, notes, sleeve, surface. The CD gave something like
a sense of "omnipotence" to the
listener, which saw year by year more and more reissues and
he'd benefit of much more minutes of music inside an hardly perishable single
support. He thought to have a better sound quality at disposal, but he
finally discover that, especially at the beginning, sound quality was pretty
bad (later things
improved).

Today "dematerialization" it's
always more tangible: in file sharing, in
the
possibility to download even legally music
from the web, in the possibility
to manipulate things that someone else produced/recorded,
in the mass production of records which now everybody'd
afford. This open up whole new settings and
we'd not say for sure but there is no doubt that the intensity with which some
adventures, the more varied, wish
to strongly focus on their own personality,
could be the sign that the future'll not be, by crook, black but colored
!!!

QBICO's adventure teach.

(originally appeared on All About Jazz on
January 2005)

articles/interviews:
Swing Journal(issue n° 6, June 2005): "Best jazz LP" by Takashi Yamamoto
(page 94) with notes on Qbico and the "Senzei" DLP (prestigious Jap. jazz mag)Foxy Digitalis, review of the Qbico U-nite VII in Buffalo,
NY by Cory Cardnew interview with Qbico by Adam Richards, still
on Foxy
little review with photos of the Detroit U-nite by Bob Dennis, legendary sound technichian
for Motownmeet the label on Leeds Guide, May 2007, by Tom Goodhand
(article on qbico 58/59/60/61)
brief interview on Yellowish Radio

words:

"With releases by outsider heroes like
Sunburned Hand of the Man, Makoto Kawabata
and Arthur Doyle under its belt, vinyl-only
label Qbico clearly has pretensions to becoming
a 21st century successor to such legendary
underground imprints as ESP, Shandar, Saturn
or Futura...." Alan Cummings

".... or immersed in the not-so-chaotic
chaos of the great Arthur Doyle. His best
works since the early seventies are decidedly
preserved by Qbico. There's everything in
this man, from blues, gospel, bop, free,
to sheer abandon, playing "outside out"
and at the same time capable of a rendition
of "Nature Boy" that puts you in tears. Of Mr. Doyle,
one can only add that, as many musicians
described as "legends", he is a
legend only because his real skills, and
the scope of his talents, remain unknown.
Exposing him in so many contexts is a fair
goal, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the new
chapters. You're lucky to deal with this
giant. One must acknowledge that QBICO has
a quality that 99% labels lack: appeal. One
can fantasize about your releases, like one
used to do about Blue Note or ESP; they're,
well, sexy. Also, no one else gives a chance
to the kind of music displayed in it. There
is much politically correct avant-garde/experimentalism
these days, slowly building into a new establishment;
QBICO stays wild, uncut." Julien Palomo

"qbico is definitely one BIG inspiration.
I discovered yr label back in Cairo where
I met sticky foster who's on the A-Band LP.
he was working there..."
Hicham Chadly

"QBICO ruuuules !" Dieter Schnabel

"I humbly think that CD in the end finished
to magnify even more vinyls, and qbico simply
takes vinyls aesthetic to a new level, new
dimension..." Joseph Tyler

"I'm a Qbico virgin no longer, thanks
to you ! Fabulous stuff and that signature
swirly chromatic vinyl of yours is Oh-so-trippy.
Long may you spin !" Peter Kostakis

"... In regards to the free funk album:
i never really thought of myself as a funk
or soul man. not in the traditional sense
anyway. but what an exquisite record. i am
truly converted! jah freed the funk and light,
blew me out of the water. the whole record
rocks, but those tracks in particular made
me forget myself in a moment in time. :)"
Mark Finch (Australia)

"I spent over an hour checking out your
web site. beautiful.......extremely colorful
and inviting. i really think that it's
fantastic. i also read the intereview which
i really enjoyed a lot as well. we're happy
to be a part of your label." Mike Johnston

"You should be some sort of noble prize
for humanity or better still given a ONU
grant for help in the evolution of the species..." Nick C.

"In equal parts; the music, the art,
the philosophy, the rockets. You are a great
man!" Alan Williams
"The limited edition 70/71/72/73/delta
is really outstanding, thanks !" Jimmy Johnson, Forced Exposure

"Qbico is like the defining moment of
our time" Dave Nuss

"wow. you're amazing ! thank you so
much for putting out this music and dedicating
your life to the propagation of beauty. it
is a rare and wonderful thing." Chris Davis

after the end of qbico...

wow, no more QBICO!? I thought you would
go on forever... well, it's
sad news, but I understand that change is
necessary...
the legend lives on !

Steve Bac

WOW!
i won't ask why...only your business to tell...
but, it'll be truly an end to a great era
of music!
Thank you sooo much for all your work on
all of the rockets! You have truly
been my greatest supporter in the music!
You and I have both understood
that its not about the few $dollars to take,
but the minds to expand along
the way! The fact that you go with your instincts,
take chances, and
release music according to your gut -- says
very much about you! Fuck the
market! This is sound! After it all burns,
there will be no memory of
cash, only sound and image! There is absolutely
NO doubt that the Q B I C O
has made a big impact in the worlds of music
and design, and I for one
SALUTE YOU!

Sincerely,
Andrew Barker

how are you ?
i already heard from you that you would close
Qbico.
i'm really glad to work with you.
and i'm really proud my early recording was
the first Qbico release,
also you said my solo would be the last release
too...!!
thanks a lot!
especially i'm very grateful you released
my early stuffs at that time!!
at that time (late 70s and early 80s),
nobody were interested in my music...
also you are the first person to book my
show in Italy!!
it meant you were the first person who understood
my music!!
thanks a lot!

i hope we'll be work together in future too,
if you're interested...
and hope to keep good friendship too.
hope to see you soon!